


The Ba Sing Se Superheroes

by frogsarecoolkatie



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: And then they were roommates, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Blue Spirit AU, Blue Spirit Zuko (Avatar), F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, Kyoshi Warrior Sokka (Avatar), M/M, Mutual Pining, POV Sokka (Avatar), Pining, Protective Sokka (Avatar), Roommates, Secret Identity, Slow Burn, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, he's technically alive but you know what I mean, idiots to lovers, no beta we die like jet, sort of inspired by the cw superhero universe, superhero au, the inherent romanticism of falling in love with the same person twice, the secret superhero identity and roommate tropes were MADE for each other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:00:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28124265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frogsarecoolkatie/pseuds/frogsarecoolkatie
Summary: Sokka's new roommate, Zuko keeps disappearing at night. Sokka is too, with his work as The Guy in The Chair for Team Avatar, a group of superheroes in the city of Ba Sing Se. He's doing everything he can to make sure Zuko doesn't find out about his and his friends' secret identities.In the meantime, Sokka works to convince the rest of Team Avatar to let the strange new vigilante, The Blue Spirit, to join their crime fighting team. Shenanigans (and falling in love) ensues.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Suki/Yue (Avatar)
Comments: 114
Kudos: 255





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first fic and I am super excited about it, I hope you all like it! 
> 
> For anyone who is curious, there is no bending in this universe, but most of the characters have similar powers to those they do in the show, courtesy of a lab explosion ala Starr Labs in the Flash. Aang can only control air though, not all four elements. Any characters who have powers that they didn't have in the show will be explained. 
> 
> Enjoy :)

“Aang,” Sokka whined, spinning around in his Lair Chair™ (a Sokka original name for his chair in their crime fighting headquarters) in order to face his friend. “Aang, my best buddy, my ultimate pal, I can’t believe you would betray me like this.” 

“It’ll all work out!” Aang said brightly. “Hey, I’ve been trying to find you a new roommate! And then we’ll all have a new friend!”

“Or you could move back in with me. Like someone who is not a backstabbing traitor.” 

“I’m not a--here look, I went online and found someone who’d be willing to move in with you,” Aang said, pulling out his phone to show Sokka the string of messages. 

“That’s crazy Aang, how do you know he’s not a serial killer?” 

“He’s not! Besides, you need to live with someone, and no one we know is going to do it.” 

Aang unfortunately was right, and they both knew it. Sokka couldn’t afford to pay for the apartment on his own, but had to live there for six more months because of his lease. He still didn’t understand why Aang backstabbed him and decided to move out earlier than they agreed, but whatever. (That’s not true, he understood why, it started with Katara and ended with ‘s lease ended and she decided she wanted to move in with her boyfriend who never says no to anything she wants.)

Sokka sighed. “Send me their info, I’ll contact them.”

At that moment Katara stumbled into their headquarters, presumably done with her night of crime fighting. She had been tracking down the criminals who had robbed the Beifong Bank on 37th street the week before. A group of five men without powers, she should have been more than able to handle them on her own. 

“Katara!” Aang launched himself at his girlfriend, covering her in kisses which Sokka would really rather not have seen, thank you very much. 

“Contact who?” she asked. 

“Sokka’s new roommate! I met him online!” 

Katara untangled herself from Aang. “That’s crazy Sokka! How do you know he’s not a serial killer?” 

Sokka scowled. He refused to be called crazy by his sister. “It’s not like anyone we know is going to move in with me, and I have to find someone to do it.” 

“Oh yeah? How are you gonna explain all of, you know?” Katara gestured wildly around the room, an underground bunker filled will every gadget a superhero could ever dream of (courtesy of Sokka, you’re welcome). Their uniforms lined the walls--one small green uniform for Toph, one yellow and orange uniform for Aang, one empty case where the blue uniform Katara was wearing would usually go, and one Kyoshi uniform for when they didn’t need Sokka at the base handling the tech side of things and he could actually help fight. His computers took up the center of the room, as did his various experiments. 

“If you’re so worried about it, maybe you shouldn’t have stolen my roommate!” 

Katara flushed. “Regardless--”

“I’ll just make up a secret girlfriend or something, it’ll be fine.” Sokka said shortly. He knew Katara was probably right, but he just wanted to be done worrying about his living situation. Especially when there were more important crime-fighting this to be worried about. 

Katara scoffed. “Sokka, this is still a terrible idea. What are going to do if he finds out! You have no idea who--”

“Would you look at the time,” Aang said nervously. “Don’t you have, er, that thing Sokka?” 

“What thin--oh yeah, the thing! Thanks Aang.” Sokka said, grateful for the out Aang gave him. He hurried out of the room without saying goodbye, ignoring the rest of Katara’s lecture. 

He had a potential roommate to contact. 

***

Sokka waited nervously by the door of his apartment for his new roommate. The things Sokka knew about him were as follows: His name was Zuko Roku. He was 24, a year older than Sokka, and texted oddly formally for someone their age. He was also apparently okay with having a bisexual roomate, responding simply “Okay. Fine by me.” when Sokka asked if he would be comfortable living with a guy who was attracted to men. 

Essentially, Sokka knew very little about the man, other than the fact that it was unlikely that he was going to hate-crime him. So Sokka thought it was quite reasonable that he was nervous. 

There was a knock on the door. Sokka flung it open to see a pale man who was about his height. The man was tall, with dark hair and golden eyes, and a scar that covered most of the left side of his face. He was also incredibly attractive. 

The man awkwardly stuck out his hand, “Hello, Zuko here.” 

Sokka blinked at him. Zuko started to pull his arm back just as Sokka realized he was supposed to shake it. Seriously, what 24 year old introduces themselves with a handshake? Sokka thought as he hurriedly grabbed Zuko’s hand before it fully retreated. 

Zuko’s hand was surprisingly calloused, and Sokka wondered what activities the man did that made them that way.

“I’m Sokka.” He then realized he was blocking the door and stepped aside. “Here, come in.” Spirits, why was he acting so awkwardly? He was normally so much better at meeting new people. Zuko’s obvious discomfort was doing nothing to help. Or his obvious attractiveness. 

Zuko followed him into the apartment, and stood just inside the threshold. He shifted his weight, eyes darting around the room. 

Sokka cleared his throat. “Do you need any help moving in?” 

Zuko flinched in surprise at the sound of the other’s voice. “No, um, it’s okay. I wouldn’t want to trouble you, or anything like that.” 

Normally, Sokka would protest. But the recent difficulties Team Avatar had been having with the Phoenix King’s cronies meant that he had little time for work recently, and he desperately had a meeting to prepare for the next day. 

“Alright, well just let me know if you end up needing anything. I’ll be in there.” Sokka said, pointing to the door to his room. 

“Thank you.” Zuko said quietly. 

“Oh wait! Before you go, I was wondering, I mean you don’t have to, if you don’t want, but my sister and old roommate are having a couple people at their place tomorrow night to hang out. It’s a weekly thing for our group, we used to do it here but, uh, you know.” Sokka cleared his throat. “Anyways, it’d just be so we would be able to get to know each other. We’re going to be living together for a while, and you’ll probably see most of the people there here a lot, so it’d probably be good to meet them.” And maybe it will get Katara off my back. “But no pressure! I just think it could be nice, if you wanted to.” Realizing that he’d been awkwardly rambling for quite a while, Sokka flashed what he hoped was a winning grin at Zuko. 

“That sounds good, just send me the info and I’ll be there.” Zuko gave Sokka a nervous smile. 

“Oh! Great!” Sokka honestly hadn’t expected him to say yes, but Sokka couldn’t say he was displeased about it. “Okay I’ll just,” Sokka gestured to his room by way of explanation, and then hurried away. 

Had he always been this bad at talking to pretty people? 

***

The train ride to Aang and Katara’s apartment had been surprisingly pleasant. Like Sokka and Zuko, the pair lived in the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se, so the trip was a quick one--around fifteen minutes including the walk to the station by Sokka and Zuko’s, the train ride, and the walk from the station by Aang and Katara’s to their apartment. 

Sokka and Zuko had headed over together once they had finished work. Sokka had been nervous, anticipating a stilted and awkward conversation for the duration of the trip. Instead, none of the previous day’s awkwardness tainted their conversation, and they exchanged the usual get-to-know-you’s. 

Sokka learned that Zuko grew up in Caldera City, but that his uncle also lived in Ba Sing Se. Zuko apparently also worked for said uncle at his tea shop in the Upper Ring, The Jasmine Dragon. 

Zuko didn’t mention any other family. 

The pair arrived at what Sokka liked to call ‘fashionably late’ (though Katara just called it rude), so Aang, Katara, Toph, and Suki were already all crowded into the common area. Sokka stepped into the room and noticed an integral member of their group was missing. 

“Suki! Where’s your girlfriend?” Sokka stepped forward to throw his arms around his best friend. 

“Why, are you going to try to steal her back?” Suki teased, pulling away from the hug. 

“Hey, maybe I’m planning on taking advantage of her absence to try to steal you back.” 

“I can’t believe both Suki and Yue have no taste in men,” Toph said, punching Sokka’s arm. 

“Hey!” Sokka playfully shoved Toph in response. 

“So we’re all just going to pretend you never kissed me thinking I was Sokka I see.” Suki said dryly. 

“Sure, make fun of the blind girl.” 

Sokka turned around and saw Zuko standing awkwardly by the door. 

“Oh, before I forget, this is my new roommate, Zuko,” Sokka said, dragging the other man further into the apartment. “Zuko, this is Aang, my old roommate. I think you guys talked a bit already. That’s Katara, my sister, and Toph and Suki over there are my friends from college.” 

“Hi, nice to meet you all.” Zuko gave an awkward wave, which Sokka was beginning to find  
endearing. 

“Anyways,” Sokka said, spinning around to face Suki, “you never said if Yue was coming. I want to know if my hair bleaching idea worked.” 

“Er, what?” Zuko asked. 

Sokka waved his hand dismissively. “Our friend, well and Suki’s girlfriend, Yue, got superpowers after the whole Sozin Lab reactor explosion. Every full moon, she has dreams that come true before the next full moon. So I thought that bleaching her hair might help, make her closer to the moon or something.” 

Zuko was doing a terrible job of covering the sceptic look on his face. “And you thought that would work?” he asked incredulously. 

“Hey, I’ll have you know I’m a personal friend of Te--” Sokka was cut off by a sharp kick to his shins from Toph. He grimaced. “Anyways, not really, I mostly just thought it would look good on her, you’re welcome Suki. I am always anxious to hear what she saw though.”

“About that,” Suki said, “I don’t...It was bad Sokka. She wouldn't tell me what happened, just that there was nothing we could do about it. When she woke up she looked...anyways, I just don’t think that we should ask about it.” 

A familiar voice called out from the door. “Hi everyone, sorry I’m late!” Yue stepped into the room with her customary serene smile that brightened when she spotted her girlfriend. Suki walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. 

The moment that Yue spotted Zuko, her face paled dramatically, and she sunk against Suki with a quiet “oh.” 

Everyone in the room, their attention having been drawn to the girl when she announced her arrival, now completely focused on the girl, and crowded around her in concern. 

“Are you okay?” Suki said gently. 

“I’m fine I just,” Yue buried her head in her hands, then looked up at Zuko. “I saw you get struck with lightning.” 

Sokka inhaled sharply and quickly looked at his roommate. Impressively, Zuko managed to keep his face impassive and Sokka could only guess what the other man was thinking. 

“Do your dreams always come true? Should I just avoid going outside for the next month?” 

“No you don’t understand,” Yue shook her head. “It wasn’t a thunderstorm. It was the Fire Princess.” 

At that admission, the tension in the room could be immediately felt. 

“And yes, they always come true,” Yue added miserably. 

Zuko’s face changed to one of utter confusion. “That doesn’t make sense, why would she do that?” 

Katara scowled and narrowed her eyes at him. “Yeah, why would a superhero famous for taking out criminals with lightning ever shoot lightning at you.” 

“Lay off him Katara,” Sokka snapped.

Aang cleared his throat to cut the crowing tension in the room. “Drinks anyone?” 

After that the night never fully regained the light hearted atmosphere it had before, with everyone in the room seeming to have come to an unspoken agreement to not address the elephant in the room. With the environment ruined, everyone headed home much earlier than usual. 

The journey back was much more uncomfortable than the one there. It was quiet, and Zuko’s face was again in an unreadable expression. He dodged all of Sokka’s efforts at talking about the incident, and hurried into his room the moment they reached their apartment. 

The moment before Sokka fell into a frustrated sleep, his last thoughts were on plans to dig into the Fire Princess’ past.


	2. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Avatar contemplates adding a new member, Sokka and Zuko bond, and Sokka digs into The Fire Princess' past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very important announcement for Zukka nation: did you know that Zuko is in one of the greatest lesbian rom-coms of all time, But I'm a Cheerleader? His first line is "I am a homosexual" and I lost my mind. That is all, thank you.

It was 3:33am, and Toph, Katara, Aang, and Sokka were gathered around a projector in the middle of their base. On the screen were the words ‘Why The Blue Spirit Should Join Team Avatar’ in comic sans next to a blurry photo of the vigilante in question. 

Katara glared at the presentation. “Are you trying to purposely antagonize me by forcing me to look at that abomination? Because if you are, I have to remind you that all important team decisions such as adding new members require an unanimous vote.” 

The abomination in question, the comic sans font, was indeed put in the presentation for the sole purpose of antagonizing Katara. 

“Of course not my most dearest sister, I used it because it is superior to all other fonts,” Sokka said. 

“I think it looks nice,” Toph said. 

Sokka grinned at her. “Thanks! Anyways, we really should get started--Toph! Why do you always have to do that?! It’s too early for this, just let me give my presentation in peace.” 

Toph just gave a malicious smile, and Aang began to quietly explain the images on the slide. 

Sokka switched the presentation to the next slide. “Okay, no more interrupting. Reason number 1: more sleep! If we have another member of Team Avatar, you guys only have to be on duty every four days, instead of every three, and I don’t have to hear about Katara complaining about balancing crime-fighting and med school.” 

“You try balancing crime-fighting and med school,” Katara grumbled. 

Aang stole the projector remote from Sokka’s hands. “Secondly, and most importantly,” Aang said, “then we’d really be Team Avatar! Earth, air, water, and fire, how cool would that be?!” Team Avatar was named after a popular children's book hero who was known for his command over the four elements. Aang, as the group's field leader, got nick-named The Avatar, despite Sokka’s complaints that he was the real leader of Team Avatar, and should therefore be The Avatar. 

But alas, it was not to be. The press didn’t even know about Sokka’s existence anyways. 

Aang switched to the next slide. The number 3 in the corner, and was otherwise filled with photos of The Blue Spirit mid-beating up criminals, which Aang described to Toph. 

“Reason three, the real most important reason,” Sokka said, glancing significantly at Aang, “is that The Blue Spirit is very cool, like definitely cooler than all of you except maybe Toph. Full offense.” 

Toph cackled and Katara mumbled something about ‘Sokka’s stupid crush on The Blue Spirit’, which he pointedly ignored. Spirits, you make one joke about finding fighting crime with flaming dao swords sexy (which it objectively is!) and you never hear the end of it. Sokka had regrets. 

Aang switched to the next slide and said, “Finally, he’s never killed a criminal; a perfect fit for Team Avatar!” 

Aang and Sokka then elaborately bowed to their audience, which earned an exasperated eye roll from Katara. 

“I’ll agree to this, on one condition: we don’t reveal our identities until we’re sure we can trust him,” Katara said. 

Sokka shrugged. “Sounds good to me. Toph?” 

“I was in from the moment you said he was cool.” 

“Great, now that that’s done, we need to discuss the Zuko situation,” Katara said. “Sokka, I don’t think you should live with him anymore. After what Yue said, I think it’s pretty clear he’s probably a criminal. If he finds out you’re a part of Team Avatar, you could be in danger.” 

“I thought he was pretty nice,” Aang quietly muttered. 

“There’s nothing I can do about it now, I can’t just kick him out and I have nowhere to go. And if he is a criminal, isn’t it better that I keep an eye on him? I can take care of myself Katara, just because I don’t have powers doesn’t mean I’m helpless.” 

“Snoozles is right. And I’m tired. We can talk about this later,” Toph said, in a tone that left no room for an argument. 

Katara reluctantly conceded, and everyone headed home. When Sokka got to his apartment, he was so preoccupied with calculating how much sleep he could get that night (one hour and nineteen minutes) that he almost didn’t notice the quiet noises coming from the kitchen. Sokka looked over to see Zuko, dressed in black, and halfway through the window. 

Both men froze. 

“I...lost my keys?” Zuko said. 

At the same time, Sokka said, “I was just, uh, friend’s house, yeah,” and immediately ran into his room. 

It was only the next day at work, two coffees later, that Sokka realized that there was anything suspicious about his roommate crawling through the window at 4:30 in the morning. To be honest, when Sokka had originally suggested ‘spying’ on Zuko he was just trying to appease Katara. Now though...maybe he should start paying more attention to the other man. 

*** 

It was days before Sokka saw Zuko again, and he was beginning to impatiently await their session of forced roommate bonding/espionage. It seemed as if the two men were never in the apartment at the same time. Zuko was always out working or doing something else, though to be fair it was much the same for Sokka. So that Sunday afternoon, when Sokka had no plans but relaxing (read: looking for a new case for Team Avatar), he was surprised to find Zuko sprawled out on their couch. 

“What’s up?” Sokka said. 

Zuko startled and sat up straight. “Oh I was just, you know,” he gestured at nothing in particular. 

“Right,” Sokka nodded. For a beat the two men simply stared at each other. Sokka cleared his throat, “So...do you want to watch some TV together?” 

“Sure.” 

Sokka grabbed the remote and plopped down on the couch. He began to mindlessly scroll through the different channels. “What type of stuff do you like to watch? Oh!” Sokka gasped dramatically. “This looks terrible! We have to watch it!” Sokka said gleefully. The show in question appeared to be some sort of low budget sitcom from twenty years ago. 

“Alright,” Zuko said, sounding amused. 

The show, it turns out, was worse than Sokka had anticipated. The genre seemed to change from episode to episode, sometimes even from scene to scene. The plot was incomprehensible, and he was relatively certain this wasn’t just due to the fact that they started halfway through the first season. Not to mention the acting… 

“The acting has to be the worst part of the show,” Sokka said. 

“I don’t know,” Zuko said, mock thoughtfully, “according to the genre conventions of shitty 2000’s shows, good acting could be catastrophically at odds with the viewer’s expectations, ultimately destroying their viewing experience.” 

Sokka gasped dramatically, “Are you...a theatre nerd?”

“We’re talking about television not theatre,” Zuko deadpanned. 

Zuko, it turns out, was incredibly opinionated when it came to shitty 2000’s shows. As they binged The Ember Island Players Zuko provided plenty of witty commentary that had Sokka constantly cackling. They began to turn it into a game, trying to see who could come up with the better convoluted prediction for the next episode. Zuko was right a shocking percent of the time. 

Sokka was having such a good time that he began to forget his original mission, Figure Out if Zuko is Secretly a Criminal. The more time that passed, it seemed to become less and less important. 

The show was strangely riveting, for reasons that definitely had nothing to do with the way his attractive roommate would clutch his arm whenever anything particularly dramatic would happen. Zuko also seemed to find the show enjoyable, as he suggested that they order take-out and keep watching The Ember Island Players. 

One take-out order and six episodes later, Zuko fell asleep with his head on Sokka’s shoulder. Careful not to disturb the other man, Sokka extracted himself from the couch and gently laid Zuko’s head down. He quietly grabbed the blanket from their closet and laid it over his roommate, then headed to his own room. 

When Sokka left for work the next morning, Zuko was still curled up on the couch. Looking at the other man, so small in the weak morning light, and remembering the sensation of his soft hair against Sokka’s cheek, Sokka could not help the tender feeling that came loose in his chest. In that moment, Sokka realized that his sister could not be correct; this man could not be capable of the things she suspected. 

It was not a rational decision, or a cautious one. Team Avatar was known for those: irrational and rash decisions. To be quite frank, none of them had common sense. It was Sokka, usually, who forced himself to make the responsible decisions, to value caution enough to ensure everyone stayed safe. But Sokka was not naturally inclined that way, and he sometimes forgot to think before he lept. 

He was forgetting now. Had he been thinking clearly he would have realized that. 

But Sokka was not thinking clearly, so in that moment he made a decision. He was going to protect the other man with the same fierce determination he gave to Katara and Toph, to Aang and Yue. 

***

Sokka stumbled into his room after another late night at their base. Zuko wasn’t there, thank the spirits, so he hadn’t had to come up with some excuse for being out until nearly five in the morning.

It was a routine night; they had no missions planned, so it was just Aang and Sokka there that night. Aang, Katara, and Toph took turns being on duty on nights like these, waiting around to see if there were any emergencies.

Sokka, though, was there every night. 

Katara had tried to convince him that he didn’t have to, that the rest of Team Avatar could take care of themselves, that he needed to sleep too. She was right, on some level, but Sokka didn’t know how to explain the complete panic that overtook him everytime he knew his friends were putting themselves in danger without him there to protect them. Sure, they were the ones with crazy superpowers. Unfortunately common sense wasn’t something that automatically came with (seriously, who tries to blow up a factory on a whim?).

Team Avatar functioned how their friend group always had, even before Sozin Labs exploded and turned all their lives upside-down: Aang, Katara, and Toph got them into trouble, and Sokka got them out of it. 

So Sokka was there every night. 

By the time he crawled into his bed that night, he wanted nothing more than to immediately fall asleep. Instead, he opened his laptop, let the faint blue light illuminate his room, and typed ‘The Fire Princess’ into his search bar. 

Of the four major vigilante groups in Ba Sing Se--Team Avatar, The Kyoshi Warriors, The Freedom Fighters, and The Fire League--hers was the one that Sokka knew the least about. 

Team Avatar worked closely with The Kyoshi Warriors, and Sokka knew most of their real identities. Like Team Avatar, The Kyoshi Warriors wanted only to help the citizens of Ba Sing Se, and made sure that they never harmed anyone, citizen or criminal, in their crime-fighting endeavors. It was why the groups worked so well together. Unlike Team Avatar however, none of The Kyoshi Warriors had superpowers, and instead all used the same traditional fighting style, making the different members essentially indistinguishable from one another to members of the public. 

The Freedom Fighters were a completely different matter. Team Avatar worked with them once, and only once. The Freedom Fighters’ leader had used his brainwashing powers to convince Katara to help them blow up a building. The explosion would have taken out one of the city's main mob bosses yes, but dozens of civilians would have been killed too. Sokka had managed to get everyone out in time, but after that point it became clear that The Freedom Fighters main motivation was revenge, and they never worked together again. 

The Fire League was the only group that came close to Team Avatar in the eyes of the public. The Freedom Fighters were too careless, often putting citizens in harm's way, and were thought of by many as a public menace instead of superheroes. The Kyoshi Warriors, though honorable, didn’t have the heroic appeal of superpowers that the other groups had. 

The Fire League though, was a different matter entirely. They were efficient, and ruthlessly so. They never harmed citizens, but never hesitated to maim or kill criminals. Many of the more hard-hearted citizens of Ba Sing Se thought this merciless policy was exactly what the city needed. And of course their powers were spectacular, rivaling those of Team Avatar. But other than that, Sokka knew nothing about them, or their motivations. 

So for now Sokka looked into the basic information on The Fire Princess, everything that was available publicly, and a picture began to emerge. 

The Fire Princess was one of the first superheroes to emerge, long before the explosion of Sozin Labs left dozens of superpowered vigilantes running around. About a decade ago she made her debut, burning down the house of one of Caldera City’s most prominent mob bosses with her crime-fighting partner, The Fire Prince. The two could have been no older than teenagers at the time. The pair worked with the same ruthless efficiency The Fire Princess was known for now, and became known as The Fire League, named for their fiery superpowers. No one knows how the duo got their powers, and explanations ranged from aliens to radioactive mutations. 

The two worked together fighting crime in Caldera City, until one day The Fire Prince disappeared. Like with their superhuman abilities, many speculated on the disappearance, but no one knew for certain what happened. The two most popular theories were that he died, or, more recently, that he fell out with The Fire Princess and became The Blue Spirit. The second theory was based on the fact that both The Fire Prince and The Blue Spirit were able to control fire. 

Sokka personally didn’t buy it. The Blue Spirit’s dao blades required a very different fighting style from the martial arts used by the members of the original Fire League. And unlike The Fire Prince, The Blue Spirit never killed anyone. Besides, what would The Fire Prince/The Blue Spirit have been doing in the years between The Fire Prince’s disappearance and The Blue Spirit’s first appearance anyways? 

Honestly, Sokka thought he probably just retired. The work was exhausting, and dangerous, especially for a kid. Sometimes Sokka wished he could retire. 

After the Fire Prince disappeared, the Fire Princess worked alone for almost a year. She moved to Ba Sing Se, which had become the crime capital of the world. In that year, she seemed to never stop working, taking out an absurd amount of criminals. It was speculated that she was single handedly responsible for the economic boom that followed, that she was the reason big corporations now felt comfortable setting up in their city. 

People speculated on other things too. The Phoenix King was the one major mob boss The Fire Princess never touched, despite easily taking out men nearly as dangerous. There were rumors that he had something on her. He had something on everyone else after all, and who could blame her if there was someone she was trying to protect, be it a lover or a mother. 

But when the speculation reached its height, The Fire Princess killed Zhao, The Phoenix King’s right hand man, as if she were just trying to prove she could. The rumors faded after that, though many still wondered why she didn’t just kill The Phoenix King. Sokka had never put much stock in those rumors, but given what he knew she was going to do…

When Sozin Labs exploded, the public eye stopped focusing so much on The Fire Princess. New heroes emerged, and with them a new Fire League did as well. The Fire Princess began to work with two new heroes--Blade Witch, a hero with an uncanny ability to always hit her intended target with her knives, and The Acrobat, a hero who could immobilize and remove the powers of any opponent with a few strategically placed punches. 

After consuming interview after interview, Sokka thought he could begin to understand why she was so invested in fighting crime. The Fire Princess never said it, but it was in her relentless pursuit of the toughest and most dangerous criminals, in the way she preened in all her interviews, in the way she never shared information with her fellow vigilante groups. What she wanted was glory. 

What she wanted was to be the best. 

When Sokka’s alarm went off, letting him know that he had missed his opportunity to sleep that night, there were three hastily scribbled questions in his notes:  
1\. How did The Fire Princess get her powers?  
2\. What happened to the Fire Prince?  
3\. Why hasn’t The Fire Princess killed the Phoenix King?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think/what your predictions are for future chapters (I'm super curious lol)
> 
> Also yes, Mai's powers are basically just Diego's from the Umbrella Academy. If anyone is curious, I was thinking that Jet's "brainwashing" works similarly to Piper's charmspeak in HoO. 
> 
> In Chapter 3, we'll finally meet the Blue Spirit! Next update Thursday 12/31.


	3. Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Blue Spirit is here at last!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all, I'm so sorry this chapter is super late! I kind of panicked about the direction I was going and spent a lot of time focusing on the whole plot instead of working on this particular chapter. I'm working on making a better outline, so hopefully this won't happen again. Also on that note, there may or may not be a chapter count increase incoming. Sorry again and thank you so much for your patience!!
> 
> \--Katie

Sokka sat in the Lair Chair™, intently watching his monitors. The base was empty. It was Aang’s night for patrol again, and he was currently helping an old lady get her cat out of a tree. Sokka was relatively confident that Aang would be able to manage that without hurting himself. Probably. 

As the pseudo-leader of Team Avatar, Sokka was attempting to make contact with the Blue Spirit. Sokka had been tracking the vigilante’s movements ever since the group decided to welcome him to the team. The Blue Spirit had been working on a case involving the Rough Rhinos, a group that was a major drug peddler in the city of Ba Sing Se. 

Sokka had been convinced that The Blue Spirit would strike one of the Rough Rhinos’ main warehouses that night, so he had managed to tap into the security cameras and speaker system on that building. His effort had paid off; he was currently watching The Blue Spirit plow through Rough Rhino members. 

The moment that The Blue Spirit incapacitated the final Rough Rhino, it was time for Sokka’s plan. 

Sokka (hopefully) took control remotely of the Rough Rhino speaker system and spoke into the microphone next to his monitor, “Testing, testing. Hello? Mr. Blue Spirit?” 

Through the cameras, Sokka saw the vigilante freeze. Well, at least he knew the speaker system was working. Sokka pulled out his phone and quickly texted Aang The Blue Spirit’s location, along with a demand that he get over there as quickly as possible. Aang responded immediately with a thumb up. He must have successfully rescued the cat then. 

“Mr. Blue Spirit,” Sokka continued, “I have a proposition for you.” 

The Blue Spirit made for the door. 

Sokka began to panic. “Wait! It’s not like, a nefarious proposition. No sir, no nefarious propositions here. Only fun, respectable propositions given by the Avatar himself. I mean, sort of. I’m not the Avatar but I’m his friend and he’s on his way over to proposition you. Wait, that sounded weird I’m sorry. Anyways, please at least wait until the Avatar gets there and hear him out.” 

The Blue Spirit sat down. 

Sokka pulled up Aang's location (courtesy of the trackers that Sokka had installed in all of Team Avatar’s suits) and saw that he was only a couple of blocks from The Blue Spirit. “The Avatar should be there any minute now, but you’re in luck! I’m, like, the funniest guy I know.” 

The Blue Spirit put his head between his hands, in a gesture that somehow managed to perfectly convey his exasperation. 

“Hey, don’t make that face! I’ll prove it to you. Hmm...I got one! What’s a shepherd's favorite type of painting? A LAMBscape!” Sokka burst into laughter. 

The Blue Spirit turned to face the camera, then brought a hand up to hit his forehead. 

“Rude! That was a good one!” 

The Blue Spirit emphatically shook his head in disagreement. At that moment, the Avatar walked into the room. 

“Okay well, the Avatar is here, so I’ll shut up now,” Sokka grumbled. 

Sokka watched intently as the two talked. The Blue Spirit then gave Aang a respectful nod, and left. Sokka thought this was probably good news, but the conversation was shorter than he had expected. He pulled out his phone and called Aang. 

Aang picked up almost immediately. “He said maybe!” 

“Maybe?” 

“Yeah! He says he wants to meet the whole team, isn’t that great!” Aang continued his excited chatter about the Blue Spirit potentially joining the team, with Sokka making the appropriate noises of agreement at the appropriate points. They then decided to head home for the night. 

Sokka crept into his apartment as silently as possible, as had been his routine since Zuko moved in. His roommate was nowhere to be seen, thank the spirits, but Sokka didn’t want to risk waking him up. 

As he tiptoed past Zuko's room, he heard faint shuffling noises. Sokka briefly wondered what his roommate was still doing up, but thought that he was hardly in a place to judge the other man. When Sokka stumbled into bed, he found that he was just grateful he didn’t have to explain to Zuko why he was still up, and put the matter out of his mind. 

***

It was a Sunday afternoon, and it felt like Zuko and Sokka were in the apartment at the same time for the first time in forever, though in reality it had only been a few days. Unfortunately, Sokka couldn't take the time to enjoy it. 

Unless… “Hey Zuko,” Sokka said, walking into the living area where the other man was seated, “I was wondering, well you definitely don’t have to, but if you’re free, and don’t mind, I have to pick the kids up as a favor to Aang, and if you wanted to come with we could hang out at a cafe afterwards or something?” 

“Uh, sure.” Zuko blinked. “Aang has kids?” 

“They used to be mine,” Sokka muttered darkly. 

Zuko stared at him in confusion. 

Sokka dramatically threw himself on the couch. He sprawled out and did his best to ignore the way his heart leapt when he found his foot in Zuko’s lap. “Aang had these pets, a dog named Appa and Momo who was a, uh, cat? And technically they were his but when we lived together they were ours but now he lives with my sister and I miss them so much.” 

Zuko awkwardly patted Sokka’s ankle. “That’s rough, buddy.” 

“I know. And Katara doesn’t even know how to take care of them properly. She left these berries out, and Appa and Momo ate them and got so sick they had to go to the hospital. That’s where they are now. She should’ve known, Momo eats anything.” 

“Well, at least you get to see them today.”

Sokka brightened at that. “You’re right! Let’s go see the boys!”

The trip to the animal hospital was filled with comfortable conversation, and Sokka was proud of how quickly he had gotten the other man to warm up to him. Zuko regaled him with entertaining tales of funny encounters at the Jasmine Dragon, as well as with stories of his Uncle’s prowess as a Pai Sho player. 

Sokka couldn’t help but find the later stories endearing, and daydreaming slightly about the fact that Zuko cared so much for his Uncle. For once, Sokka wasn’t the one doing the majority of the talking, but he found he didn’t mind. He felt like he could listen to Zuko talk forever. 

When they arrived at the animal hospital, an incredibly large and fluffy white dog bounded over to him. 

Sokka teared up. “Appa!” 

The dog in question slammed him into the ground and covered him in kisses. Appa then became preoccupied with sniffing, and then licking Zuko. With Appa distracted, Sokka quickly located and then opened Momo’s cage.

Zuko blinked at the furry creature that emerged from the cage. “That is not a cat.” 

“Sure he is,” Sokka cheerfully replied. 

Momo leapt onto Sokka’s shoulders in a decidedly un-catlike maneuver. Zuko skeptically eyed the creature. 

To be honest, Sokka wasn’t sure that Momo was a cat either. But when your best friend and vet-in-training (1) insists that your pet with two too many opposable thumbs for you to be confident in its cathood is actually a cat, and more importantly, (2) reminds you that Ba Sing Se’s laws surrounding pet ownership wouldn’t allow him to keep any primates he may or may not have rescued from his native mountains, you tend to turn a blind eye. 

“He’s a cat,” Sokka said. 

Zuko simply pressed his lips together in disbelief.

Sokka checked the animals out of the hospital, and then made his way outside with Zuko, Appa tugging at his leash and Momo still perched on his shoulders. 

“You know, the Jasmine Dragon is nearby,” Zuko said. 

“You really want to go there on your day off?” 

Zuko shrugged. “It would be nice to see my uncle,” he said with a small smile. 

“Alright, lead the way.” Sokka did the most elaborate bow he could manage with Momo sitting on his shoulders. He grinned wildly when his antics earned a soft laugh from Zuko. 

The Jasmine Dragon was a cozy shop, all warm brown tones and fragrant scents. Their arrival immediately had an older man hurrying over to them. 

“Nephew!” The man threw his arms around Zuko. “I’ve missed you!” 

A faint blush colored Zuko’s cheeks. “You saw me yesterday.” 

“Ah, but it is always a pleasure to see you my dearest nephew.” Zuko’s uncle released him from his grasp. 

Sokka watched their interactions with a fond smile. 

Zuko’s uncle’s eyes twinkled, noticing Sokka for the first time. “And who is this handsome young man?” 

“Uncle, this is my roommate Sokka. Sokka, this is my Uncle Iroh.” 

“It’s very nice to meet you, young man.” 

“It’s nice to meet you too, Zuko’s told me a lot about you. Mostly about your prowess at Pai Sho, I’d love to play a game with you sometime.”

Uncle Iroh grinned. “Zuko, I like this one! I will have to take you up on that offer sometime.” Iroh then set about getting them settled at a table, bringing out tea for the two of them and a bowl of water for Appa and Momo. 

In the brief silence, Sokka found his mind wandering to The Blue Spirit’s reaction to his jokes. He found himself unusually bothered by his humor’s poor reception, for reasons that definitely had nothing to do with how cool and attractive The Blue Spirit was. 

“Zuko,” Sokka said, “you think I’m funny right?” 

“I think I don’t want to respond to that, your head would get too big,” Zuko responded dryly. 

“So you do think I’m funny!”

When the other man didn’t respond, Sokka poked him in the side. “Admit it! You think I’m funny!” 

Zuko hummed thoughtfully and pretended to take a moment to think. “I don’t know, I need evidence.” 

“Alright, my best material.” Sokka paused dramatically. 

Zuko raised his eyebrow and took a sip of his tea. 

“What’s a shepherd’s favorite type of painting? A LAMBscape!” Listen, Sokka wasn’t lying when he said that was his best material. If The Blue Spirit couldn’t appreciate his best material, he would tell it to someone who could. 

Zuko choked on his tea. 

Sokka consolingly patted Zuko’s back. “Ah, my humor can be overwhelming at times.” 

“No, that was awful.” 

Sokka pouted. “Zuko, how could you betray me! I trusted you!” 

Zuko simply rolled his eyes and changed the subject, engaging Sokka in a conversation about how he’d found a dedicated Ember Island Players fanbase, and simply could not fathom its existence. 

One the train back, the pair fell into a companionable silence. In his pocket, Sokka felt his phone buzz and pulled it out. He looked down to see a message from Aang. 

Aang: Hey, can I come over? I want my kids back.   
Sokka: your kids?!?   
….  
and fine   
Aang: Great!! I’m in your kitchen! :)   
Sokka: how tf did you get in? i thought you gave zuko your keys?  
Aang: The Avatar never reveals his secrets! :D  
Sokka: child stealing bastard >:(

Sokka leaned his head back against his seat and smiled. For once, he felt his worries slip away; the constant noise of fear, thoughts of lightning and the Fire Princess faded to the background. He let himself bask in the warm feeling that came from seeing Appa and Momo, from having his goofy best friend waiting for him, from spending the day with Zuko. 

He was content. 

***

Team Avatar was in their base, nervously waiting for the arrival of the Blue Spirit. Everyone was in uniform, with the exception of Sokka, who wore his usual clothes alongside a cheap wolf mask he had bought specifically for this purpose. He had considered wearing the Kyoshi warpaint that he normally used to conceal his identity when out on missions, but decided that the hassle of putting it on every night wouldn’t be worth it. 

Though, considering how uncomfortable the plastic mask was, Sokka was beginning to regret that decision. 

A bell rang, and Aang jumped up to let The Blue Spirit in. He excitedly escorted the vigilante to the center of the room where Team Avatar stood waiting. 

“Hi, I’m the Avatar! Though I guess you already know that because we met already. That’s The Blind Bandit, she’s secretly super rich and the reason why we get a base and all this cool stuff. And that’s the Painted Lady!” 

“I thought you were called Ocean Girl?” The Blue Spirit interrupted. 

Katara stiffened. “No, I’m not,” she said tightly. 

“She hates being called that,” Sokka cackled. 

Team Avatar had no idea how Katara started to be called Ocean Girl. Well, half of them anyways. Getting all the news outlets to refer to Katara’s superhero identity as Ocean Girl may or may not have been a convoluted scheme concocted by Sokka and Toph to get revenge at Katara for… something. It felt warranted at the time anyways. 

Sokka stuck his hand out to The Blue Spirit. He definitely did not admire The Blue Spirit’s strong grip more than a normal amount. “I’m S-- I’m the official guy in the chair for Team Avatar, but I’m also an honorary Kyoshi Warrior. We talked a bit before, and I’ll have you know that everyone on Team Avatar thinks I’m exceptionally funny. And, oh! You can call me Team Leader.” 

The rest of Team Avatar groaned at that. 

“It’s true but I hate that it’s true,” Toph muttered.

Aang clapped his hands together, “Alright, introductions are done! Now time for our pitch: Why you should join Team Avatar!” Aang pulled up a presentation on the projector that was simply titled ‘Join Team Avatar’ with images of the whole team in uniform. 

“When joining Team Avatar,” Aang said, “the most important benefit is just that: the team! The support of other heroes can be more valuable than you’d think! In addition to having people around to bounce ideas off of, and someone to watch your back during fights, you get to have constant support from people who just get it; the need to protect others, the stress of constantly worrying about a secret identity, just everything.”

“Additionally,” he continued, “we seem to approach crime-fighting similarly, always making sure that no one gets hurt, criminals included, so we should be able to work well together. And we can provide you with more than support people-wise! The Blind Bandit’s family is rich, so we have all this cool equipment! You’d obviously have access to all of it if you decided to join us.”

“So, uh, yeah!” Aang finished, “please join our team! We think you’re super cool and you’d really be such a big help!” 

“Would I be expected to reveal my identity to all of you?” The Blue Spirit asked. 

“No. Maybe if we get to a point of trust, but not for now,” Katara said.

The Blue Spirit nodded. “Alright, I’ll join Team Avatar. But on one condition: we take down the Phoenix King.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zuko said patricide with his whole chest. Also I promise the what's going on with Azula plot/subplot will make progress soon. 
> 
> As always, please let me know what you think! I love reading all your comments! 
> 
> Next update by/on Monday 1/11.


	4. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka is sleep deprived. That's it, that's the chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As someone who has been so chronically sleep deprived I hallucinated, there is literally nothing more romantic than someone making sure you get sleep. Also, it is really a very painful experience, -11/10 do not recommend (being sleep deprived, not this chapter, this chapter is fluff, mostly).   
> \--Katie

Sokka displayed a truly heroic level of dedication when he dragged himself out of bed that morning. 

He was utterly exhausted. On a usual weekend, Sokka would spend almost all day sleeping off the fatigue from the previous week of crime-fighting. But he didn’t have time for that now. 

After The Blue Spirit’s declaration that Team Avatar was going to take down the Phoenix King, the vigilante admitted that he didn’t have a plan for how they would be able to do so. Apparently the Blue Spirit had been working against the Phoenix King for his entire career as a vigilante. On his own though, he hadn’t been able to directly move against the crime boss, and instead had worked on taking out his less powerful allies like the Rough Rhinos. But he was confident that with the help of Team Avatar they could take down the Phoenix King. 

It was a sound idea in theory: working with Team Avatar gave the Blue Spirit access to backup, as well as all of the resources that Toph’s wealth allowed. The only problem was that they still didn’t have a plan. 

Which meant Sokka wasn’t getting to catch up on his sleep, and was brainstorming ways to take down the Phoenix King instead. 

Or at least, he was supposed to be. But when he woke up to find Zuko cooking breakfast, and was then offered a plate of food, his plans for the day seemed to become less important. 

Sokka mechanically dug into his plate of food. 

“You look terrible,” Zuko observed. His face turned an alarming shade of red once he realized what he said. “I’m sorry--I didn’t--I just--are you okay?” Zuko sputtered. 

Sokka mustered up his best grin, though he suspected it didn’t reach past the circles under his eyes. “Don’t worry, I couldn’t be mad at you after you fed me. You know what they say about food and a man’s heart.” 

Instead of diffusing the situation, Sokka’s statement made the color on Zuko’s face spread to the tips of his ears. Interesting. 

Sokka sighed. “I’m fine, just tired.” Tired was perhaps an understatement. Once, in college, Sokka had been so sleep deprived he hallucinated Appa and Momo dueling. Sokka had yet to hallucinate this week, but he could tell it was not far off. 

Zuko frowned in concern, and the pair ate in silence. It wasn’t a tense silence, necessarily, but it wasn’t a comfortable one either. 

Sokka fidgeted in his chair. “So...did you have a nice week?” 

“Oh uh, I guess. Nothing too special…” Zuko trailed off, and then his entire face lit up as he remembered something. Zuko then launched into a story about helping Iroh create a new type of tea for the shop, and how pleased his uncle had been with it. 

Sokka tried not to be too endeared with the wild gestures Zuko made to punctuate the story, but it was a losing battle. 

That story took them until they had both finished eating, when they then got into a friendly argument over who would do the dishes, that Sokka eventually lost. He would have protested more, had he not felt tired enough to keel over at any given moment. 

Sokka watched the other man wash the dishes, his chest full of warmth, when it struck him, really struck him, for the first time: sometime in the next few weeks, Zuko was going to get struck by lightning. 

Sometime in the next few weeks Zuko was going to die. 

The warm feeling in his chest immediately disappeared, replaced by a fear that was almost debilitating. Zuko was going to die, and Sokka had done nothing to stop it. 

Sokka stood up, as if in a trance. “I’m sorry, I--I have to go.” 

“Oh.” Was that...disappointment that flashed across Zuko’s face? He quickly returned his face to a neutral expression. “Alright, see you later.” 

Sokka can’t get to Team Avatar’s base fast enough. He knows what he has to do. 

All technological methods that were, well, legal had proved fruitless in digging up anything of use on the Fire Princess. And talking to Yue hadn’t helped either. The only details she had been able to provide past Zuko getting attacked by the Fire Princess had been that they were indoors when it happened, and that Zuko was wearing all black. Which, considering Zuko’s normal dress, could be almost anytime. 

So, besides the lightning proof armor that Sokka briefly contemplated trying to make before realizing that there was no way he would have that ready in time, he had exhausted all legal methods of protecting Zuko. 

It was time to hack the Dai Li. 

The fact that the Dai Li, Ba Sing Se’s notoriously overzealous police force, had cameras in every corner of the city was one of those secrets that everyone knew. If Sokka could hack into those cameras, he was sure he would be able to track the Fire Princess’ movements and find out her real identity. 

(The fact that the Dai Li knew who all the vigilante’s in Ba Sing Se were, and only left them alone due to their popularity with the citizens, was another one of those not-a-secret-secrets). 

Normally, Sokka might have had an issue with unmasking a fellow superhero, but he figured he was out of options. Besides, it wasn’t like Sokka was going to publicly reveal her identity or otherwise use it against her. 

Well, unless she was actually dirty of course. 

Sokka spent the entire day glued to the computer, pushing past firewall after firewall in order to get to the Dai Li’s camera footage storage. While waiting for some of his code to work its magic, Sokka found himself thumbing through The Blue Spirit’s notes on the Phoenix King that he had left for Team Avatar. 

The notes were extensive, detailing the Phoenix King’s holdings and allies in both Ba Sing Se and Caldera City. One note made Sokka pause. 

Listed under the Phoenix King’s allies, in The Blue Spirit’s messy scrawl, it read: The Fire League. Can’t take them down--too public. 

So. 

The Fire Princess and her cronies couldn’t be trusted. Sokka couldn’t wait to have access to the Dai Li’s systems. 

By the time that Sokka does have access though, Aang is there, ready for that night’s patrol. It would have to wait then. 

Next time. 

***

It was Monday night. Or Tuesday morning, technically. 

Sokka opened the door to their apartment to find Zuko sprawled on the couch, groggily rubbing sleep from his eyes. 

“Oh sorry, did I wake you?” Sokka said softly, stepping into the apartment. 

Zuko stood up slowly. “No, it’s fine. I was just--” He gestured around the room by way of explanation, then looked at Sokka, apparently expecting an explanation for why he was getting back at almost 5 am on a weekday. 

Sokka, ever the expert liar, said, “I was just, you know, doing, uh, things.” 

Zuko simply hummed in response and turned to go to his room, but not before Sokka saw the way his eyes glinted, full of concern in the room’s dull light. 

***

When Sokka walked into their base the next night, The Blue Spirit was already there. It was his first time on duty for Team Avatar, an event which Sokka may have found more exciting had he not been so tired he felt he was going to throw up. 

The Blue Spirit looked up at Sokka, his expressionless gaze tracking the other man’s movements. “What are you doing here?” 

Sokka might have felt something, surprise, maybe, that The Blue Spirit didn’t know that the reason he was here was because he was always here, but he was too preoccupied with collapsing onto the floor and daydreaming about falling into his bed. 

The Blue Spirit walked over to Sokka, footsteps silent, and crouched next to him. “Are you alright?” he asked, his rough voice surprisingly gentle. 

“Fine.” In an abstract sort of way, Sokka noticed that his hands were trembling. “You need backup.” 

“I don’t think you’re in any state to provide backup.” 

He had to be. 

“Hey.” The Blue Spirit gently laid a hand on Sokka’s shoulder. “Go home.”

“But--” 

“Do you trust me?” He was speaking quietly still, almost whispering. 

Did Sokka trust him? As a hero, absolutely. The way the vigilante fearlessly protected the citizens of Ba Sing Se ensured that. Did Sokka trust him? He didn’t even know the vigilante’s name. 

The Blue Spirit spoke again. “Do you trust that I can handle myself?”

“Yes.” Of course he did. 

“Then go home.” 

“But--”

“Go home,” The Blue Spirit repeated, more firmly. 

So Sokka did. He thought he would be more worried, that he would feel so guilty about leaving a teammate without backup that he would be unable to sleep. But when he fell into his bed fully dressed, too tired to even contemplate changing out of his clothes, all he could feel was grateful. 

Adding The Blue Spirit to Team Avatar, Sokka thought, was quite possibly one of the best decisions they ever made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a shorter one! 
> 
> Also, I have an announcement to make: up until now I've been doing (mostly) weekly updates, but I'm going to have to switch to every other week. This is for a lot of ~life~ reasons, but the main one is that I'm starting school again! I might switch back to weekly updates at some point, but for now I don't want to overwhelm myself. 
> 
> Anyways, to entice you guys not to forget about this fic in the wait, the peek at next chapter is that the plot stuff is really gonna start kicking, and also that Kyoshi Warrior Sokka is going to make an appearance!
> 
> Next update is Monday, 1/25.


	5. Suspicions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka goes digging in the Dai Li database. Team Avatar has their first mission with The Blue Spirit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: mentions of dead bodies
> 
> Not me posting this chapter four whole days after I said I would. In my defense, I had midterms this week, which considering this was only my third week back since winter break, should probably be classified as cruel and unusual punishment.   
> \--Katie

Sokka didn’t understand. Or, Sokka understood perfectly, but he didn’t want to. 

Sokka was sitting in his Lair Chair, looking through the Dai Li’s database. It was all right there. Sokka hadn’t even had to follow his convoluted plan involving security footage to find out The Fire Princess’ identity. 

He had just been scrolling through the database, to make sure he didn’t miss anything useful, when he saw a file labelled ‘The Fire Princess’. Sokka opened it to find a picture of a woman with black hair, pale skin, and a fierce golden glare, next to a name, Azula Sozin. 

Sozin. As in Sozin Labs, the company responsible for the superpowered criminals and vigilantes currently running around. It couldn’t be a coincidence, and Sokka would have been contemplating if it would be more disturbing for Sozin Labs to have experimented on a child with the goal of giving her powers, or to have experimented on a child with powers in order to replicate it, if there hadn’t been more disturbing matters to attend to. 

The Fire Princess was undoubtedly in league with the Phoenix King, and that wasn’t even the worst part. 

It was all there, how The Fire League worked specifically to take down only the criminals who crossed him, how The Fire Princess only killed Zhao because he was getting too ambitious, how this was all some convoluted scheme to avoid getting The Phoenix King’s hands dirty all while generating public favor for a member of his team. 

It wasn’t even circumstantial evidence, there was more than enough that she would be convicted for sure, but the Dai Li still hadn’t arrested her. Which led to another, much worse conclusion. 

The Dai Li were dirty. 

The panic rising in Sokka’s chest made it difficult to breathe. The Dai Li knew everything, knew everything that happened in Ba Sing Se, knew who everyone on Team Avatar was, and would undoubtedly know if Team Avatar moved against The Phoenix King. 

Everyone knew the Dai Li only stayed away from the vigilantes because it wasn’t worth the risk of public outcry from going against such public figures, and the subtler methods would hardly seem worth the effort. Especially since their interests aligned, for the most part. 

But Sokka shuddered to think what the Dai Li would do if they knew the two groups were now in direct opposition to each other. 

When The Blue Spirit walked in, Sokka groaned and put his head on his desk, the plastic of the mask digging uncomfortably into his face. 

They had been getting into the habit of this recently, of The Blue Spirit talking to Sokka after he finished his patrol, of him listening to Sokka complain about the stress of their work, of him understanding Sokka’s fear on a level no one else had. 

Sokka never wanted to worry the others with his issues, but The Blue Spirit was different. He was strong, and dependable, and always knew the right thing to say. 

“Are you okay?” The Blue Spirit asked. 

Sokka groaned again and sat up to face the other man. “The Dai Li are dirty,” he said by way of answering. 

“Shit.” 

Okay, maybe he didn’t always know the right thing to say. 

“I’m just, I’m just so worried.” Sokka began to run his fingers through his hair, tugging it sharply enough to bring tears to his eyes. “I mean, we knew The Phoenix King was powerful, but the Dai Li! I just… what if they try to kill The Avatar in his sleep?! Spirits, what if they try to kill my si--”

“S--Team Leader, stop.” The Blue Spirit gently took Sokka’s hands, stopping him from tearing his own hair out. Sokka pointedly ignored the fluttering feeling in his stomach, because he absolutely did not have time for this right now, get it together Sokka. 

The Blue Spirit took a deep breath. “This is bad, I’m not going to pretend it’s not, but we’re going to be okay. We’re going to take more time to plan, we’ll figure something out together. We’ll wait it out before we show our hand. And if the Dai Li do try to hurt anyone on Team Avatar, they’re strong enough to stay safe, at least long enough to flee the city. I mean, there’s always Omashu. Honestly, now that I’m thinking about it, I’m sure The Blind Bandit would love to be on the run from the law.” 

Sokka snorted. “I’m pretty sure she already has been.” 

The Blue Spirit laughed quietly, “Yeah.” 

Sokka could feel the pressure in his chest lessening. The Blue Spirit really did always know what to say. 

“Hey,” The Blue Spirit said, squeezing Sokka’s hands, “we’re going to be okay, okay?” 

“Yeah,” Sokka said, “okay.” 

***

The plan they came up with, for now, was to keep doing what The Blue Spirit had been--weakening the Phoenix King by taking out his allies. Which is why Sokka found himself sneaking into Boiling Rock Pharmaceuticals, a company that often smuggled the necessary ingredients for the illicit substances that many of the city’s criminals--including The Phoenix King--used, with The Blue Spirit. 

Katara, Toph, and Aang were busying themselves with both providing a distraction and creating as much damage as possible. They may be excellent heroes, but subtlety is not their specialty. So the espionage was left up to Sokka and The Blue Spirit. They had no specific goals in mind, just anything related to The Phoenix King, anything that looked like it could even be the slightest bit useful, was enough. 

Inside the building, they rounded a corner to find a single security guard. The Blue Spirit immediately rushed ahead and hit the guard over the head with the hilt of one of his blades, silently taking care of the problem. Sokka very pointedly did not find this attractive. 

The Blue Spirit looked back at Sokka to make sure that he was following, then quickly snapped his head forward again. 

Sokka frowned. The Blue Spirit had been acting weird since the beginning of the mission. Sokka still remembered the strange strangled “oh” he gave when he first saw Sokka wearing the Kyoshi war paint and uniform. Weird. 

Distracted by his thoughts, Sokka doesn’t notice that The Blue Spirit had stopped until he walked straight into his back. The Blue Spirit grabbed Sokka, pulled him to his chest, and clasped his hand over Sokka’s mouth, hissing a soft “quiet!” in his ear. 

And Sokka. Does not think about the other man’s breath whistling past his ear. He also does not think about his back pressed against The Blue Spirit’s chest, or the heat of his gloved hand against his mouth. 

A deep, cold voice was speaking. “--move resources to Omashu. I do want to start pushing product in Gaipan as well, but Omashu has been the most receptive--”

If he didn’t have one of The Blue Spirit’s arms wrapped around him, Sokka might not have noticed how the other man stiffened at the sound of that voice. As it was, Sokka was too busy reeling at the knowledge that whatever this operation was, it was expanding. 

Another voice interrupted, breathy and strained. “But, sir!” 

What is presumably a chair scrapped across the floor, and the first voice spoke again. “How dare you speak--” 

The entire building shook. Sokka fell onto the floor, half-landing on The Blue Spirit. 

The Blue Spirit scrambled to his feet. “Was that--” he began to ask. 

“The Blind Bandit? Probably,” Sokka said, standing up. 

They heard shuffling from the room they were eavesdropping on. The Blue Spirit figured out what was happening before Sokka did, and tackled him into a closet in the hallway right when the door began to open. 

In the dark, the two of them were pressed close enough together that Sokka could hear The Blue Spirit’s ragged breaths, could feel his trembling arms. If he hadn’t been able to, Sokka might have protested against hiding. But he had, and so he knew: The Blue Spirit was terrified. 

They stayed in the closet long after the footsteps in the hallway faded. 

When they finally headed out, they immediately made their way down to where the rest of Team Avatar should be. Sokka was immediately relieved to find all three of them looking shaken but decidedly uninjured. 

Katara and Toph stood behind Aang, who was hunched over a burnt out husk. Even with their masks on, Sokka knew them well enough to tell how upset they all were, especially Aang. 

Aang was crying, managing to get out something like “I tried to stop him” through his tears. 

As soon as Sokka recognized that the burnt husk is a corpse, he felt his stomach fall to the floor. He knew exactly who he had just heard speaking upstairs. They all did, but The Blue Spirit said it anyways, so quietly it must have been only intended for himself. 

But Sokka was still standing close enough to hear it, the soft “The Phoenix King was here.” 

*** 

When Sokka arrived at his apartment that night, Zuko was also standing outside the door, letting himself in. Sokka did not pay attention to this, gave it no thought past a simple greeting, too tired to think about anything at all. They did not exchange words after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know what you think! I live for your guys' comments. 
> 
> As a thank you for putting up with my bs uploading schedule, I'll be attempting to upload chapter 6 a bit faster. Expect to see it up by 2/8.


	6. Fears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka has problems, and commits home invasion to solve them. Surprisingly, this causes more problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? Me dropping a 2.4k chapter...on time?!  
> \--Katie

In the days that passed, they’ve fallen into a routine. Or, two routines, which have created two problems. 

The first routine was with Zuko. They’ve each gotten used to the presence of the other, and have begun to make room for the other in their lives. Everyday, they would eat dinner together, and breakfast too if it was a weekend. Nights when they were both home became nights where the two hung out, usually watching Ember Island Players. Nights also often involved odd encounters, when one of the two came home at an odd hour of the night. They stopped questioning each other about it. 

Sokka had come to enjoy it, the quiet domesticity of it, and Zuko’s sharp, dry wit. Everyday, he found himself looking forward to when he got to see Zuko next. Which led him to his first problem: he had a crush on Zuko. His roommate. The person he was contractually obligated to live with no matter how awkward. Who also, was fated to get struck with lightning sometime very, very soon. 

But wait! It gets worse. 

Because the second routine Sokka fell into was with The Blue Spirit. On his patrol nights, The Blue Spirit continued his habit of occasionally forcing Sokka to go home and get some sleep, somehow having a sixth sense for when Sokka was feeling overwhelmed. On nights when Sokka felt up to staying, they became fast friends, sparring and bonding over the struggles of life as a vigilante. 

It was getting to know The Blue Spirit that had really done Sokka in, in the end. Because Sokka undoubtedly also had a crush on The Blue Spirit. Which was as ridiculous as his crush on Zuko, but for vastly different reasons. The reasons primarily being that Sokka knew nothing about The Blue Spirit’s real life, not even his name or face. 

Sokka was unsure what to do about it. With Yue and then Suki, he had just gone for it (or more accurately in the second case, Suki had just gone for it). Sokka had no idea how to let go of a crush. 

Maybe, if Zuko survived Yue’s premonition and then eventually moved out of Sokka apartment, Sokka would ask him out. Or maybe, if The Blue Spirit revealed his identity to Sokka, allowing him to learn more about him than simply his life as a vigilante, Sokka would ask him out. 

Sokka, of course, was considering this predicament because of the current position he found himself in. The position being laid flat on his back in Team Avatar’s base, The Blue Spirit straddling his waist. 

“Surrender,” The Blue Spirit said breathlessly. 

Sokka swore that he would have made a witty response, had he not been so preoccupied with trying to ignore The Blue Spirit’s strong thighs pressing on the sides of his hips. 

*** 

There was another problem, too, with the time passing. Yue’s vision was set to occur sometime before the next full moon, which was only days away. 

Sokka was getting desperate. Desperate enough, apparently, that he was willing to the very, really, incredibly stupid: breaking into The Fire Princess’ house. He didn’t know what he hoped to find, but, as stated, he was driven by desperation, not reason. 

Her house was located in the Upper Ring--because of course it was, she was a Sozin--and was a full house, complete with three stories. A three story house. In the city. 

Sokka wondered why she had any reason to be dirty in the first place, if she lived in a house like that. Maybe the house came after, and it was one of the perks of working with The Phoenix King. Or maybe The Phoenix King was holding someone hostage who was important to her. Maybe Sokka could find out who, and then she wouldn’t have to harm Zuko. Maybe. 

It was night when he broke in, Sokka having it on good authority (i.e. the news covering her stopping a bank heist) that she was out with The Fire League doing ‘hero’ work. He entered silently through the back door. Sokka quickly decided to start with her bedroom, where it was most likely she kept anything important. He didn’t know how much time he had, afterall. 

It only took a few minutes for Sokka to locate her bedroom. The room was impeccably clean, filled with what could only be incredibly expensive furniture, all in deep browns and reds. For all that though, it was a room lacking in personality, no posters or knick-knacks to indicate anything about its owner. Though, Sokka supposed, the lack of these things surely revealed something about her character, in its own way. 

In the corner, there was a proud, wooden desk, where Sokka decided to start his search. The first drawer he opened looked shallower than he expected, and simply had tape and a pair of scissors. The next drawer held a set of knives. Alarming, but not useful. The remaining two drawers held various office supplies. Again, post-it notes and printer paper were of no use to Sokka here. 

Sokka re-opened the first drawer, frustrated and hoping he missed something. When he looked closer, he saw a thin line around the bottom of the drawer. He dug his nails under it and pulled out the false bottom. Underneath, were photos. 

The first photo that Sokka saw was an image of three women. In the center, stood Azula, who was unsmiling, but managed to look oddly soft and content. On her left, stood a grim looking woman with pale skin and dark hair. On her right, stood another woman, grinning brightly, with a brown braid and sparkling eyes. 

Sokka wondered vaguely, about the Fire League’s three women, and if the others in the photo with Azula were the other members of the team. 

Sokka put it down and turned to the next photo. He immediately felt dizzy, as if the floor was about to drop out under him at any moment. 

It’s an old photo. Azula looked younger, and softer too. A man’s arm is around her shoulder, but his image had been ripped out. Next to her, stood a boy a few years older than her. He was still scarless then, but Sokka still recognized him. 

At Azula’s side, stood someone who was unmistakably Zuko. At Azula’s side, stood someone who was unmistakably her brother. 

Their resemblance was obvious, in their matching gold eyes and sharp chins. Sokka’s mind reeled, and he remembered how shocked Zuko was, when Yue revealed her premonition. That his own sister would do something that would probably kill him. 

Sokka wondered about the first Fire League, about the Fire Prince only a couple years older than the Fire Princess. He wondered too, about Zuko’s last name, Roku. 

And then he heard the front door open. 

For a moment, Sokka simply froze, listening to the sound of footsteps moving throughout the house. 

Sokka then moved to put everything back into the drawer, as silently as possible. He cursed internally that Azula was back so early. Sokka barely had the chance to find anything useful, and now he was in danger of being discovered. 

He wouldn’t risk going out the door he came in. From the sound of it, it seemed like Azula was still downstairs, and attempting to sneak past her seemed like asking to get caught. But he couldn’t stay here either. He would certainly get caught if he did.

The window it was, then. 

Sokka moved towards it, remembering every bit of training Suki gave him on moving silently. He grabbed it and began to slowly pull it open, only to freeze in horror at the screech it let out. Sokka listened for any sign that Azula had heard him, and heard her footsteps pause. 

Shit. 

Sokka had seen her fight, and he knew one thing: he did not want to get caught. The chances of him dying if he did were extraordinarily high. Sokka liked to think of himself as an excellent fighter, even if that wasn’t his main role on Team Avatar. But Azula was better. 

Sokka forced the window open, taking no care to be silent. Footsteps. Someone was coming up the stairs. 

As soon as there was enough room to fit him, Sokka launched himself out the window and scrambled down the wall, silently thanking Suki’s constant drills. He cursed himself for forgetting to close the window and certainly alerting Azula to the fact that there had been an intruder, but he did not have time to do anything about it. 

As long Azula didn’t know that the intruder was him, specifically, he should be fine. Mostly. 

Sokka landed on the ground roughly, but nothing seemed to be broken. Which was good, because Sokka couldn’t imagine how he would explain to Katara what had happened. He could already hear the lecture about how stupid he was being. 

Then Sokka was moving again. Away, in no particular direction, and as fast as he could. Sokka did his best to avoid security cameras, and to take a very circuitous route. 

He didn’t relax until he was climbing through his bedroom window. Even then, he kept looking over his shoulder. 

When the adrenaline wore off, his thoughts returned to where they often went: Zuko. He felt as if he had been trying to solve a 1000 piece puzzle, and only now discovered a piece that was completely different from all the rest. A piece he knew belonged, and indicated only that the puzzle was much larger than he had ever thought. He had no idea how to find the rest of the pieces. 

(Of course, there was one way to find them. Without a doubt, Zuko would know how to fill in the puzzle.) 

***

Problems, it seemed, only kept compounding. 

Sokka was in his bedroom when he got the text, mind still stumbling over the new information he learned at Azula’s that night when the sun began creeping over the horizon. 

Hey, the text reads. I’ve been kidnapped. And then an attached location. 

Zuko, kidnapped, and due to get struck by lightning at any moment. 

Sokka texts Team Avatar + Suki, sending the location and a request for backup. Sokka was then headed to their base as fast as he could, throwing on his Kyoshi uniform and gathering intel about the address Zuko had sent. 

It was a warehouse, and Sokka could be there in fifteen minutes if he ran. 

Sokka sent the others the building’s schematics, grateful to see that they were already responding with messages letting him know they were on their way. 

And then Sokka ran, as fast as he could, lungs struggling for breath. With each slap of his foot on the pavement, Sokka only chanted Zuko, Zuko, a constant mantra pushing him forward. 

Sokka was the first to arrive--no surprise with how desperately he rushed over. He slipped into the shadows behind the building and leaned against the alley wall, taking deep, gasping breaths. 

Just as Sokka was deciding to sneak in a window, he saw Suki’s car pulling around the corner. Barely a couple minutes later, there were four figures sneaking around behind him. 

“Hey,” Toph said, punching his shoulder. 

“He’s in there,” Sokka said, voice unsteady. 

“Let’s get ‘im.” And before anyone could stop her, there was a tremendous grinding noise as Toph ripped the metal door off the warehouse. 

Led by Toph, Team Avatar ran through the door, not ones to give up on the element of surprise. The moment he was through the door, Sokka quickly glanced around taking stock of the situation. 

The warehouse was surprisingly nice on the inside, filled with gadgets that indicated that it was probably the Fire League’s equivalent of the Team Avatar base. It was undoubtedly the Fire League’s, as all three current members were to be found inside the building. 

Blade Witch and the Acrobat immediately turned to face them. The Fire Princess was crouched towards the back of the building, facing Zuko, who was tied to a chair. 

Toph immediately began exchanging blows with Blade Witch, while Suki took on the Acrobat. Katara and Aang both attacked the Fire Princess. 

In the brief moment that Sokka watched her, he couldn’t help but to think that the Fire Princess looked a bit...off. Her mask was slightly askane, her hair completely disheveled. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Sokka saw Zuko struggling against his ties. Sokka ran to him with ease, the members of the Fire League being completely preoccupied with Sokka’s teammates. 

Sokka knelt next to Zuko. “Hey,” he said, cutting the other’s bonds with his boomerang. 

“Thanks,” Zuko replied. He rubbed his wrists, where angry red marks gave testament to how tightly he had been tied. 

The Fire Princess screamed in rage and sent a fireball at Zuko’s head. 

Zuko fell to the floor, rolling aside with surprising grace and emerging unscathed. “We need to go.” 

Sokka nodded. “Team Avatar, retreat!” he yelled, and then they were all turning and running as fast as they could. Toph had been the only one to successfully take out her opponent, trapping Blade Witch in handcuff made from her own knives, so the Acrobat and the Fire Princess were still in commission, though the Fire Princess did look the worse for wear. 

It seemed that Team Avatar had worn them down enough however, as they begin to pull away from their pursuers. Suki led the way to her car, and then they were all piling in haphazardly, yelling at Suki to start driving. 

Suki floored it, with Katara craning her neck to check for signs of followers. Only after taking a speeding, winding, path through the city they began to feel safe. 

They didn't go back to the base. 

Instead, Suki pulled into the parking lot of a park at the edge of the city. 

For a moment, no one spoke. The silence was grating, so at odds with the other events of that morning. Sokka spotted a jogger meandering through the park, signaling the waking up of the city. 

It was Katara that broke the silence. “What the hell Zuko?!” 

Sokka winced. She was so angry, she had forgotten that they weren’t supposed to know him. 

“Just leave it, Painted Lady,” Sokka said. 

“But--” 

“Leave it,” Sokka repeated, “we can do this later.” 

Zuko looked overwhelmingly relieved.

In the background, Sokka heard Suki ask Zuko if he was okay to go from here, saw Zuko nod and exit the car. But Sokka was preoccupied with the calculations he was making in his head, the ones he knew Katara had made, and that the others must be making too. 

Zuko, Azula’s sister. Zuko, who had dodged that fireball much better than a civilian could have. Zuko, who got kidnapped. Zuko, who knew to text Sokka for help. Zuko, who always arrived back at the apartment late. 

Zuko, an equation, a puzzle. 

Zuko, something Sokka had the answer to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure if I made this clear enough, but Azula kidnapped Zuko because she thought he was the one that broke into her house. I might explicitly state this in a later chapter, idk.  
> ***  
> Sokka: I know what you are.  
> Zuko: Say it.  
> ***  
> Thanks for reading everyone! As always, please leave comments, I love hearing everyone's thoughts! Next update Monday 02/22.
> 
> EDIT: So anyways, turns out I am a dirty, dirty liar. I think my professors are trying to kill me. I had two papers due this week and three more due next week and I am STRUGGLING. I'll post the next chapter as soon as it's finished, though its only like 20% done right now so it might be a week or two, I'm sorry! :___(

**Author's Note:**

> please let me know what you think in the comments! constructive criticism is welcome! also let me know if I should add any tags


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